Article feed for wrapping machines



Dec, am, 1 8%.. c. KEHLING 11,786,494

ARTICLE FEED FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed 001;. 29, 1929 -NITED STATES PATET CHARLES KEBLING, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOit T AMERICAN MACHINE &; FOUNDRY COMPANY, A CORPORATION; OF NEW JERSEY:

RTICLE FEED non WRAPPING macnmns Application filed flot'ober 29, 1929. Serial No. 403,287.

This invention relates to article feeds for wrapping machines, and particularly to that t pe 1n which the articles are fed in a row own an inclined chute, at the bottom of a which they are withdrawn by a transverse conveyor by which they are moved into the machine in a direction at right angles to the length of the row on the chute. 1 In the case of articles of somewhat irregular or variable shape or rough surface texture, such as loaves of bread, particularly when the latter are sliced before being fed into the machine, the surface disturbance between the upper side of the article on the conveyor a d the lower side of the last article on the feed chute has been found -sufiicient to cause considerable trouble through disarrangement or injury of the article belng withdrawn on the conveyor or the adjacent article in the chute; or in the case of sliced loaves,

through skewing of the slices. i It is the object of the present lnventlon to so arrangethe article feed'as to reduce this disturbance to a minimum. To th1s end,

there is interposed in the path of the descending article, just as it enters into the delivery position upon the conveyor, a hump so placed that it raises the forward end of the last article on the chute and the rear end of the article on the conveyor, thereb separating the articles,-so that they touc along a S111 1e l ne of contact, thereby reducing surface mot on between them.

With this and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention consists in.

certain constructions and combinations which will be hereinafter fully described, and then more particularl pointed outin the here-- unto appended caims. I I

In the accompanying, drawings in which like characters of reference indicate thesame or like parts: v 4 i Fig. 1 is aside elevation of an article feed constructed in accordance withthe inventlon;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device shown in 1; and i ig. 3 is a side elevation of the article feed with the article separating hump detached. In carryin the invention into efiect, there is provided in combination with a runway for supplying articles in side by side row formatlon, a conveyor arranged to withdraw .in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular construction selected toillustrate the invention is but one of many possible concrete embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described. Referring now to the drawings, a' runway, preferably a' chute such as the chute 5 is shown for supplying articles in side by side row formation. This runway is supported by bars 6 attached to lugs 7 carried by shafts 8 fastened to the frame of the wrapping machine. The chute 5 has at either side adjustable guides 9 which are attached to rods 10 carried by studs 11 slidable in the lugs 7 and held in position by thumb-screws 12.

At its lower end, the chute 5 leads onto a plate 13 supported on bars 14, this. plate, together with a second plate 15, spaced a short distance from it on bar '16, forming the run- .way of the article conveyor which in the form I illustrated is the feed conveyor of a bread theart cle supplying runway.

.Upon the plate 13 is mounted the h forming device 22 which is of wedge shaped outline and so dimensioned that the space between its fiat end and the end wall 17 of the conveyor is smaller than the width of the line only.

article P to be wrapped. The device 22?) shown in Fig. 1 is preferably formed of sheet metal and has along its trailing end, corresponding to the edge of the wedge, a hooked edge designed to hook detachably into the slot between the chute 5 and the plate 13, so that the straight body ortion 22?) forms a continuation of the article supporting surface of the chute, of reduced slope. This portion of the hump of reduced slope is followed by an abrupt drop formed by the supporting wall 22a, off which the loaves or other articles tilt, as shown at P in Fig. 1. It will be noted that for this purpose the high spot of the hump is between the centers of ravity of the end article or article next to e withdrawn and the article adjacent thereto. Thus the article arrives in the range of action of the conveyor in the tilted position P in which it has contact with the adjacent article P on theincline along a single The article forwarded on the conveyor remains in the position P until after it has passed the article P on the chute, and after being clear of the incline 22b, assumes the position P on the runway ofv the conve or.

Vithout the hump forming device 22, the article P, as shown in Fig. 3, is delivered by the chute to the conveyor runway in the osition P, so that the entire upper side 0 the article P is in contact with the lower side of the last article P on the chute. The improved feed chute by which the contacting surface and resulting friction is greatly reduced, thus eliminates a source of trouble heretofore encountered with article feeds of this type.

What is claimed is:

1. In an article feed, the combination with a runway for supplying articles in contacting row formation, of a conveyor arranged to successively withdraw articles transversely from said row, and means for relatively tilting the article next to be withdrawn and the adjacent article in the row to reduce the friction between said articles.

2. In an article feed, the combination with a runway for supplying articles in contacting row formation, of a conveyor arranged to successively withdraw articles transversely from said row, and means for relatively tiltin r the article next to be withdrawn and the ad acent article in the row to reduce the friction between said articles, said means comprising a device for lifting one side of one of said next and adjacent articles.

3. In an article feed, the combination with a runway for supplying articles in contacting row formation, of a conveyor arranged to successively withdraw articles transversely from said row, and means for relatively tilting the article next to be withdrawn and the adjacent article in the row to reduce the friction between said articles, said means comprising a device roviding a hump on the loaf supporting sur ace of said runway.

4. In an article feed, the combination with a runway for supplying articles in contacting row formation, of a conveyor arranged to successively withdraw articles transversely from said row, and means for relatively tilting the article next to be withdrawn and the adjacent article in the row to reduce the friction between said articles, said means comprising a device providing a hump on' the loaf supporting surface of said runway, and a hook structure at the trailing edge of said device for detachably securing said device onsaid runway.

5. In an-article feed, the combination with a runway for supplying articles in contacting row formation, of a conveyor arranged to successively withdraw articles transversely from said row, and means for relatively tilting the article next to be withdrawn and the ad acent article in the row to reduce the friction between said articles, said means comprising a device providing a hump on the loaf supporting surface of said runway, the highest point of elevation of said hump with respect to the general level of the runway being between the centers of next and adjacent loaves.

6. In an article feed, the combination with a runway for supplying articles in contacting row formation, of a conveyor arranged to successively withdraw articles transverse- 1y from said row, and means for relatively tilting the article next to be withdrawn and the adjacent article in the row to reduce the friction between said articles, said runway comprising a chute, and said means consisting of a device roviding a continuation of the surface of said chute of reduced slope followed by an abrupt drop.

7. In an article feed, the combination with a runway for supplying articles in contacting gravity of said row formation, of a conveyor arranged to successively withdraw articles transversely from said row, and means for relatively tilting the article next to be withdrawn and the adjacent article in the row to reduce the friction between said articles, said means consistmg of a device of wedge sha ed outline secured in said runway with t e wedge edge name to this specification.

. CHARLES KEHLING. 

